That is because Miller was on fire. He - and James - helped the Heat defeat Oklahoma City 121-106 to win the NBA title.

Miller collected 23 points, five rebounds and one steal in the deciding Game 5. Battling a host of injuries, the Mitchell native played just 21 minutes in the first four games of the finals, yielding a total of eight points, four rebound, two assists and one block.

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But Thursday night, Miller was unstoppable. He made his first five three-pointers, and finished the game making seven of eight from three-point range. He also made both of his free throw attempts.

With his 12 points at halftime, NBC announcers and analysts couldn't talk about Miller enough. He also was chosen to do the halftime interview by NBC, and Miller was as smooth off the court as he was on it.

Miller said in the interview - with lots of smiles and boyish charm - that he was only open to take his four three-pointers in the first half because Oklahoma City had to focus on his talented teammates like James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. When he was asked about playing hurt, Miller said everyone is playing hurt at this time of year.

The stock of arguably the best basketball player - certainly the most accomplished - in South Dakota soared.

Meanwhile, James was his MVP self. He collected 26 points, 13 assists, 11 rebounds, two blocks and one steal.

Talk about unstoppable.

''It means everything,'' James said moments after the win. ''I made a difficult decision to leave Cleveland, but I understood what my future was about ... I knew we had a bright future (in Miami). This is a dream come true for me. This is definitely when it pays off.''

Led by Miller, Miami was 14 of 26 from three-point range.

The Oklahoma City Thunder were led again by Kevin Durant with 32 points and 11 rebounds. Teammate Russell Westbrook finished with 19 points for the Thunder, though Westbrook's night - one game removed from a 20-for-32 performance from the field - came on a night where he shot 4 for 20. They came out with 4:44 left, the outcome long decided, the Heat fans going delirious.

Down 10 at the half, the Thunder cut the deficit in half by the time the third quarter was a minute old. It was the last gasp of the season - Miami put the game, and the title, away with a 34-13 burst that pushed the lead to 93-67 on a three-point play by Wade with 1:23 left in that pivotal quarter.

Miller connected on his sixth 3-pointer of the night, and Miami's 13th, on the first possession of the fourth quarter. Miller would soon add another, for good measure. From that point, the clock wasn't ticking down time left in the game. It was ticking down the time left in Oklahoma City's season.

Even though it was a five-point game after one quarter, a 10-point game at the half and still a two-possession game early in the third quarter, the Thunder simply did not have enough answers for the barrage that came from title-starved Miami.

Forget Miami's Big Three of Wade, James and Bosh. It was more like a Big Six for the Heat on this night. Two years of work, and a year of frustration after falling to Dallas in the title round a year ago, came pouring out of the Heat, comeuppance coming in bunches.

By the time the third quarter was over, Miami had six players in double figures. Oklahoma City? Just two.

And that was largely the downfall of Oklahoma City in this series. Durant was consistently great. Westbrook had more good moments than bad, by far. But the third option simply wasn't there, or at least, wasn't there often enough.